Uproar in Parliament; Speaker loses his cool

Being the Speaker of Parliament has never been an easy task. The responsibility that 224 MPs always uphold the dignity and decorum of the House can at times tax the nerves of anyone holding the Speaker’s post.

So it was with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Wednesday as Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarians vehemently protested his announcement that the Parliament’s Secretary General had written to the Election Commission informing that Parliamentarian Ranjan Ramanayake’s seat had fallen vacant.

As the House erupted in uproar, with various Parliamentarians raising Points of Order and trying to make themselves heard, the Speaker clearly became more irritated.

At one stage, SJB Parliamentarian Dilip Wedaarachchi kept demanding he be given the mic to raise a Point of Order. The constant interruption clearly got on the nerves of Speaker Abeywardena who blurted out “thamuse” instead of the more formal “thamunnanse” when addressing the Parliamentarian, though he quickly corrected it in his stride, telling the Parliamentarian that the mic was his to speak.